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Best way to remove ball joint bolts from spindle without a BFH??

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Ian Berky, May 16, 2011.

  1. Ian Berky
    Joined: Nov 28, 2007
    Posts: 3,644

    Ian Berky
    Member

    I need some advice on removing the spindles off the 61 cadillac i am working on!?!?!?! :(
    I got it all apart but i really don't wanna damage the bolt with a BFH. If you guys have any advice, I'd appreciate it!!!

    I though of using the torch?!?!?!?!?!

    Thanx!!
     
  2. use the fork tool.
     

  3. i mean...yeah thats the only way i ever do them..didnt know there was any other way
     

  4. squirrel
    Joined: Sep 23, 2004
    Posts: 55,933

    squirrel
    Member

    hit the spindle from the side, not on the end of the bolt. A couple good whacks should knock the taper loose. Put the nut over the threads first in case you miss.
     
  5. fordsbyjay
    Joined: Nov 4, 2009
    Posts: 752

    fordsbyjay
    Member
    from Lafayette

    Leave the castle nut on the threads to protect it. Btw, you don't hit the threads (at least not on purpose) you hit the spindle perpendicular to the ball joint and it will pop out. Jack it up a bit and the spring will help push it out. Buy make sure and leave the nut on during this process.

    The fork will bugger up the rubber boot so I wouldn't recommend that.
     
  6. Ian Berky
    Joined: Nov 28, 2007
    Posts: 3,644

    Ian Berky
    Member

    Thanks guys!!! Im gonna try the wack on the side...... I didnt know about that fork tool you guys are talking about?!?!?!:(
     
  7. squirrel
    Joined: Sep 23, 2004
    Posts: 55,933

    squirrel
    Member

    pickle fork

    [​IMG]

    Tears up the seal, not a problem if you're replacing the ball joints. You hit it on the handle end with the bfh
     

  8. a pickle fork tool? i thought everyone used them? thats the only way i know how to split ball joints,you never hit the bolt part at all....it tears up the boot a little but doesnt hurt the joint
     
  9. Ian Berky
    Joined: Nov 28, 2007
    Posts: 3,644

    Ian Berky
    Member

    Oh i know what a pickle fork is...... Just didnt know the actual name!!!! :rolleyes:
     
  10. JeffreyJames
    Joined: Jun 13, 2007
    Posts: 16,628

    JeffreyJames
    Member
    from SUGAR CITY

    Bloodyknuckles showed me how to get them out without messing them up if you have no pickle fork. It involved two ball pean hammers being swung at the same time on opposite sides of the spindle where the ball joint runs through the "eye". If you time it right and can hit them at the same time it only take like 5 hits before the just drop right out. It's a good choice if you're on the road.
     
    Yoshiie_tcb likes this.

  11. see i knew you had to know what it was lol, the two hammer thing sounds interesting
     
  12. squirrel
    Joined: Sep 23, 2004
    Posts: 55,933

    squirrel
    Member

    When I first learned the "hit it from the side" method at the junkyard when I was a kid, the guy said to hold one hammer one one side of the spindle, and whack the other side with another hammer. I've found that most of them will pop off after about half a dozen whacks with one bfh, no backup needed. A few are stubborn and holding another hammer head on the other side helps. I dont' have the coordination to whack it from both sides at once at the same time!
     
  13. cornbinder52
    Joined: Dec 31, 2006
    Posts: 385

    cornbinder52
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    i have tried the hammer thing without much luck. just grabed the pickle fork.
     

  14. i take it no clamp on the spring at let the pressure of the spring force it?

    im curious,i have to do some cv joints on another car and only do the pickle fork cause its what i know
     
  15. Ian Berky
    Joined: Nov 28, 2007
    Posts: 3,644

    Ian Berky
    Member

    Thanx so much guys!!!!! btw, I took the springs out a while back so i could channel the body and drop the car all the way down.
     
  16. Hackerbilt
    Joined: Aug 13, 2001
    Posts: 6,254

    Hackerbilt
    Member

    You don't need spring pressure at all.
    It's a tapered hole so once it shocks free its released completely.
    Sometimes it will pop and you won't notice as it reseats into the taper but its still loose. Have to give it a check after a few hits.

    I have never owned or used a pickle fork. I use a single hammer on most and the odd time I'll use a backup hammer against the opposite side if the joint is difficult.
    I just use it as an anvil....i don't try to swing from both directions at the same time.

    (Why does that sound so dirty...LoL)
     
  17. Ian Berky
    Joined: Nov 28, 2007
    Posts: 3,644

    Ian Berky
    Member

    HAHA!! Went in the garage in my slippers and pajamas to give the hammer trick a shot..... couple hits and it came right off!!! :D


    Awesome..... Thanx a lot!!:)
     
  18. Mr48chev
    Joined: Dec 28, 2007
    Posts: 33,861

    Mr48chev
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    That is exactly what I was going to say to do. I knocked who knows how many out when I was doing front end work and almost always did it that way. You need about a 2-1/2 lb hammer and hit it square and the stud should pop loose. A pickle fork works well but often tears up the boot on the ball joint.
     
  19. ironpile
    Joined: Jul 3, 2005
    Posts: 915

    ironpile
    Member

    If you have compressed air ,a good air hammer to side of the joint usually does it quick.
     
  20. henry's57bbwagon
    Joined: Sep 12, 2008
    Posts: 680

    henry's57bbwagon
    Member

    Have used the two hammer method before but now just use one big hammer.
     
  21. big creep
    Joined: Feb 5, 2008
    Posts: 2,945

    big creep
    Member

    next time call me, i have a few! the caddy looking killer!
     
  22. 345winder
    Joined: Oct 27, 2010
    Posts: 1,059

    345winder
    BANNED

    ...always brought up using a hammer hitting the spindle/control arm in the right spot(thats the trick),tried a pickle fork once, ...put it away and picked the hammer back up..:)
     
  23. large-stache
    Joined: Aug 9, 2009
    Posts: 92

    large-stache
    Member

    It's a good idea to leave the nut threaded on a couple turns, both to protect threads, as mentioned by others, and also to keep the A-arm, spindle or what have you from flying apart, specially if its under spring pressure.
     
  24. I have a heavy duty 2 legged puller with short legs that i wind up with the impact and they pop out pretty easy. Might be doing it wrong but it works.
     
  25. From what I've heard (and it makes sense), a pickle fork can damage the ball joint or tie rod end (whichever piece you are taking apart). When using a pickle fork, it is acting as awedge between the solid iron female part and against the steel part that holds the ball type socket. Internally in the ball part of the socket when you use a pickle fork, it is trying to pull the ball out of the socket and can damage the ball/socket causing a loose joint. Of course this only matters if you are reusing the tie rod end or ball joint etc. I've done alot of front end work and have never had the hit it with a hammer on the side of the iron female part fail me yet.
     
  26. There is a slick little tool I learned to make and use - got this from from a long departed uncle (who was the family gearhead). It is a "double nut" (?) - hex bar stock sized the same as a nut for a 3/4 bolt - but the thickness of two or three nuts stacked... It has two 3/4 grade 5 bolts turned into it - but first they have a small socket hole drilled in to the top of them. They are lengths chosen to fit between the ends of the two ball joint pins and not be jammed tight together in the middle of the double nut. One of the two screws is locked with a jam nut - and the other turned out to make the tool press against the pins. You loosen the nut of the pin you wish to break out - one thread - and put axial pressure right on the ends of the pins with the screw jack - tap the side of the taper housing with an itty bitty ball peen - and she'll pop right loose.
     
  27. this is the only way ive ever took then off. faster then a pickle fork and dont rip the boot.
     
  28. Ditto. Also, on lots of cars there's a square pad type area that looks like it was made for that hit
     
  29. I worked in one front end shop and we mainly used the BFH method from the side. I had a 32 oz hammer that was perfect for the task. One whack usually did it.

    Bob
     

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